The captain of the tiny cruise ship, "The Spirit of Nantucket," deliberately ran the ship aground on Nov. 8th after the vessel hit something and began taking on water. No one was injured, and the Coast Guard got all 66 passengers off the boat.

The problem began at around 5:30 a.m, when the 207-foot boat -- which has a shallow 8-foot draft making it suitable for cruising inland waterways -- struck something in a relatively isolated section of the Intracoastal Waterway near Virginia Beach, VA.

When the ship began taking on water, the captain decided that he would ground it in mud about 100 feet from shore in a swampy area.

As passengers waited for the Coast Guard, they had breakfast on board and many apparently joked about the situation.

Two 41-foot Coast Guard boats subsequently came alongside and picked up passengers and crew and took them to a ferry landing about 2 miles away. Arrangements were subsequently made to take the passengers to a hotel.

The boat, owned by Cruise West, a small cruise line based in Seattle, was on a 10-day cruise from Alexandria, VA., to Charleston, SC.

"Guests will be given the option of continuing their tour by motorcoach, or returning home with a refund for the remaining nights of the cruise," said Andrew Wilson, a spokesman for Cruise West.

"Cruise West continues to work with the Coast Guard and local authorities to determine the cause of the damage to the Spirit of Nantucket," Wilson said.